Technology roadmap

TPRC believes that innovation is a team effort. Our research roadmap, which comprises a growing number of research projects, is therefore defined in close cooperation with our Technical Advisory Board. The roadmap follows a typical bottom-up approach: starting with materials, manufacturing processes and joining techniques on an element level, using the experience gained to continue with components of increasing complexity and then to proceed from secondary substructures to primary load bearing assemblies. As a common denominator, all projects aim to gain a fundamental understanding of the processes and materials at hand, thereby guaranteeing that the developed knowledge can be transferred to alternative materials and processing conditions. Moreover, the research results are translated to material and processing guidelines as well as design rules, to be used by our industrial members.

Research

Our members are actively involved in the ongoing research roadmap and the status of the projects is frequently reported to our industry partners. Industrial reference groups guide the research and ensure the relevance of the projects, while the scientific quality is secured through the academic members. Together, we aim to further strengthen our position in key thermoplastic composite processing technologies. Our roadmap activities resulted in a leading position in thermoplastic composite manufacturing, as confirmed by the growing number of third party bilateral research projects. Various companies have found their way to TPRC for consultancy on product development and process optimization.

TPRC, the ThermoPlastic composites Research Center in the Netherlands, is an open innovation, research- and development center that aims for thermoplastic composites for a broad range of end use markets.